Anime X: The Tomorrow People
by Amor
Summary: The world is caught in a struggle between two species humans and mutants. Caught in the middle are a ragtag group of mutants just trying to bring justice to the world, whatever justice is. An AU fusion of XMen and various anime.


_Mutants are an off-shoot of humanity caused by a sudden appearance of the mutant gene, commonly referred to as the X-Factor. This gene usually gives mutants special powers or superhuman abilities, although the type of powers. varies greatly and is often unique. Mutant powers manifest at puberty, although there have been rare instances of powers manifesting at birth, during extreme stress, or later in life._

_The first mutants appeared in the 1960s, but they did not become a significant issue until the "mutant explosion" in the early 1990s. Mutants make up about 1.5 of the population, although this figure may be lower than the actual number due to mutants concealing their heritage. Mutants are treated as humans by most countries' laws. Despite this, they are frequently the target of discrimination and fear._

-Omnipedia, _Mutants_

* * *

_**ANIME X: THE TOMORROW PEOPLE**_

Issue #1: X (1 of 6)

A crossover fanfic by Amor

Disclaimer is at the bottom. This fanfic is rated PG/K/whatever.

* * *

With enough make-up, the bruises on her face more or less vanished. But that stuck out, and even if she painted her whole face everyone would still remember what she was. Word had spread quickly around school – Ino Yamanaka, the most popular sophomore, was a dirty stinking _mutant_. And worse, she was a telepath – she could be in your head at any time and there would be no way of knowing. 

Hence the rapid fall from grace. Hence the beating behind the school, as Hideki (she hadn't meant to do any harm, she only wanted to know what it _felt like_) let loose a string of obscenities while kicking the shit out of her. Hence the fact that everyone but Sakura avoided her now, going out of their way to move to the other side of the hallway when she walked by, as if she couldn't get at them there.

It was, in a sense, fair – she had invaded peoples' minds, though she had done nothing but observe. But that wasn't why people hated her. It was because she was a mutant, and the worst kind too – one that could pass off as human.

Ino washed the makeup off her face, exposing all of her ugly purple bumps, and walked back into her room, where Sakura was sitting on the bed looking at a magazine. "I don't think I can go back to school," Ino confessed. "Everyone hates me now."

"Since when have you cared what everyone thought?"

"Since forever. I'm shallow, remember?"

Sakura giggled. She and Ino had met in kindergarten, and except for a year and a half in junior high when they were both chasing the same guy and hated each other for it, they had been the best of friends ever since. That was probably why she was the only one to stand by Ino when the truth had been revealed. Ino had asked her if she didn't mind the idea that her best friend was poking around in her brain, but Sakura had just said she had nothing to hide.

"I think that if you just don't let this define you, people will forget about it. I mean, it's not like you grew a third arm or something."

"Maybe..." Ino replied doubtfully. There was a ring at the door, and Ino heard her father answering it. She hoped it wasn't anyone from school.

Sure enough, her father called up five seconds later. "Ino! There's someone here who wants to see you!"

"Tell them I'm busy!"

"I think this is really important, Ino!"

"Fine," Ino said with a scoff. She slowly walked out to the front hallway, Sakura following her.

To her surprise, the person at the door wasn't one of her classmates, but an old and shrunken woman. "Good afternoon," the woman said. "Which one of you is Ino Yamanaka?"

Unsure, Ino raised her hand.

"I have a proposal for you."

* * *

The woman, who had introduced herself as Genkai, had politely sat down in the living room and asked for some tea. Inoichi had immediately rushed off to make some. While they waited, Genkai had asked Ino about her life – how she was doing in school, if she was dating anyone, what she liked to do with her spare time, and so on and so forth. She didn't ask Sakura any questions, and the pink-haired girl spent the time looking lost and confused. 

When the tea arrived, however, Inoichi sat down and Genkai's tone became more serious. "The reason I've come here, Ino, is because I'm starting a school for people like you, and I'd like you to be one of the first members."

"What do you mean, people like me?" Ino asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Mutants. With all of the recent media backlash, young people with mutant powers have no idea what to do and no one to turn to. I am to fix that, and teach youths like yourself how to use their power to benefit the community."

Ino hesitantly took a sip of her tea, and didn't like it all that much. "A school for mutants?"

"You must have experienced discrimination at your present school," said Genkai. Ino's face fell, confirming this. "You must have had problems controlling your powers."

"Well, not really..."

"Then learning how to live with them?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

Sakura looked away, but Ino could see sadness on her face. "Where is this school, exactly?" Ino asked.

"It's located in Hokkaido. You'd have to stay there for most of the year."

Ino's heart sunk, and she knew that she only had one response. "I'm sorry Genkai-san, but I don't think I could go. My powers really haven't been causing me any troubles lately."

"Ino," Inoichi said softly. "I think you should go."

"What? But Dad, I'm happy here! I have friends!"

Inoichi stood up and cupped Ino's face, running a hand over her bruise. His daughter flinched "Were you happy when those friends did this to you? Genkai is going out of her way to give you safety and training and you turn her down?"

"I don't need safety! This is nothing, dad! Every thing's going to go back to normal soon!" Ino had been repeating the last line like a mantra over the past week.

"If a pretty face didn't make them forget their hatred, do you think an ugly one will? You're going, Ino. It'll be good for you."

Ino stared at Sakura, and thought of being alone, truly alone, in a strange place, surrounded by other freaks of nature. She felt hot tears running down her eyes as she stood up forcefully. "You're just saying that because... because you think I'm a freak and you want me away from here! If you really cared about how safe I was, you wouldn't want to send me away with some woman you barely know!"

Ino bolted and headed for her room, where she slammed the door. Her crying could be heard in the living room. Inoichi looked stricken, while Genkai's face had stayed neutral the entire time. Sakura, uncomfortable and feeling out of place, quietly got up and left the house.

"That girl..." Inoichi finally said.

"She's young, Yamanaka-san," said Genkai. "I was much the same way when I was her age."

"It's hard to believe you ever were."

"Very funny. I may be old, but I can still kick your ass."

Inoichi smiled, but only because he knew it was true. "Could you go talk to her, Genkai-san?"

"I believe that you shall have to. But let her be alone for a while. Your daughter's life is full of turmoil right now. Everything she thought she knew is now uncertain. She has to go through this on her own."

"But... I want to help, Genkai-san."

"We always do. We always do."

* * *

"Look, Rei, are you sure you can take this?" Edward Elric asked skeptically. The short teenager was shirtless, wearing only black jeans, and fully exposing his automail arm. The sun was bright in the courtyard of the Academy, and the two were facing off on the open field. 

"Any normal form of physical assault will not be enough to break through my shield," Rei said in a monotone. Her body – thin, pale, and with bluish-white hair – was surrounded by a flickering hexagonal force field. She was wearing a full, form-fitting blue uniform.

Edward shrugged. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you." He charged forward, bringing back his automail fist. With practiced ease, Rei drifted out of the way, her force field staying up all the way. Edward charged at her again, but she once again evaded him. Frustrated, he fell to his knees and slammed his two hands into the ground. With a flash, the dirt in the ground transmuted into hard projectiles launching themselves at Rei.

Rei dashed to the side, but a couple of the chunks of earth still hit the shield, causing small ripples of energy to pulse across it. However, Ed kept his hands pressed to the ground, and with another flash of light the earth around Rei rose up around her, encircling her field and then trapping her in a sphere of earth.

A moment later, her force field expanded, shattering her earthen prison. The field then winked out and Rei lowered herself to the ground. "That was not part of the drill, Elric-san."

"Just call me Edward, okay?" the blond-haired boy said. "But anyway, I got you. Anyone I use that on in a real fight isn't going to know what hit them, and they'll be trapped."

"Yes, but the point of the exercise was to work on your physical combat skills."

"That was physical!"

"Were I attacking, you would not have been able to do that."

"Bullshit."

Ryo Akiyama, wearing a dark red version of Rei's uniform, drifted down from above. He looked like an extremely athletic 15-year-old, except for his metallic, dragon-like wings. "Hey guys! Waiting for Washu to be done with the Danger Room?"

"Yes," Rei answered.

"I don't know why I have to learn hand-to-hand," Edward complained. "Heck, I don't even know why I'm here. I can repair anything in an instant and turn lead into gold. I should be the richest guy on the planet, not a do-gooder superhero wannabe training at a boarding school for genetic freaks."

"Then why don't you, Ed?" Ryo said harshly. "Just because Genkai wants you to be a X-Man, doesn't mean you have to. Go back to England if that's what you really want to do."

Edward shrugged, looking thoughtful. "Well, nobody would buy anything from someone like me anyway. Besides, I want to make a difference. So I guess you're stuck with me."

"Glorious," Ryo said. He was the leader of the X-Men, and so far the only members were himself, a British punk, a girl who looked like she was in a coma half the time, and a short kid that couldn't fight. He really hoped that Genkai's recruitment drive was a success.

* * *

Ino had always liked pop music, but at the moment it annoyed her greatly. All of those idols were singing about love and happiness when Ino had no idea what love was and was about as far from happy as she had ever been. So as she lay in her room, trying to drown out her thoughts with the radio, she searched for music that didn't feel so alien to her. 

There was some American blues music which was plenty sad enough, but Ino found it terminally boring. She found a station that was playing hard rock – angry words of protest and hatred, but she didn't exactly feel angry. Sure, she supposed she was mad at her father, but everything just seemed like a cruel trick of fate, not anyone's fault. After all, before she had developed powers she thought mutants were freaks and a danger to society like everyone else.

There was a knock on her door. She didn't reply. It opened a crack, and her father poked his head in. "Can we come in, Ino?"

"You already have, Dad," she shot back. He was always coming into her room without knocking.

Both of Ino's parents walked in, looking for a seat and finding none. Ino didn't bother getting up from her prone position on the bed.

"Look, Ino," her father said, after a short silence. "I don't think you're a freak. I love you, Ino. You're a psychic or whatever, why don't you go into my mind and see for yourself."

Ino groaned. "I don't feel like it."

Her mother chuckled. "Well then, stop lobbing accusations. But seriously Ino, we really do think that this'll be best for you. You'll still be able to keep in touch with Sakura, and you'll be accepted for who you are. Genkai used to be your father's martial arts instructor, so she's not just a stranger. Please, think about it."

"There's nothing to think about. I don't need a special school. I'm _normal_."

"I know that, honey, but the rest of the world doesn't. Please, just give it a try, all right? Besides, Genkai is working on some pretty important stuff that you could get involved in. You know, help out with your university application."

"Oh, like any school will take me if they know my powers. They'll think I cheat on all my tests," Ino said bitterly.

"And do you?" her mother asked.

"Only History tests."

Inoichi chuckled. "Anyway... if you still want to go back after a month, I'll be okay with that."

"A _month_?"

"And your other choice is to keep being ostracized and beaten up at your current school," said Inoichi.

"Well gee, when you put it _that _way..." Ino said sarcastically with a large eye roll.

"I'm glad we agree!" said Inoichi, who clapped his hands and left the room.

Ino turned to her mother. "Dad just doesn't get it, does he?"

"Fathers aren't supposed to get it, dear."

* * *

It was one of their insignificant human events – some awards show, or concerts, or a movie premiere. All of the pretty people were coming out to a cacophony of flashbulbs as they posed for the gossip rags, wearing the latest overpriced designs. _How amusing. They desert the immortal gods only to worship mortals. What fools these humans be._

But they did worship the beautiful, those that excelled in uselessness. And tonight, Hao was thankful for that. They were as gods, but they were mortal – more mortal than their worshipers, even.

And what better way to start a war than to kill a god?

Hao leapt off of the theatre roof, drifting down slowly. A singer – a cute girl, with curly black hair, she couldn't be more than sixteen – was walking down the red carpet. All of the flashbulbs stopped at once.

Hao grinned maniacally, as flames ignited at his fingertips. "Be grateful. Now your fame will last."

* * *

Genkai had arrived around six. Ino had packed the night before, had one last sleep-over with Sakura, and spent most of the day waiting. By three, she was just wondering when the old crone was going to get here and whether she couldn't just take the plane by herself. 

But Genkai did arrive eventually. Saying goodbye was a lot harder than Ino had thought it would be.

Genkai had actually been very reassuring, and eventually Ino warmed up to her. The old woman actually had a sense of humour. She didn't talk very much about the school, however. Ino was still nervous about what awaited her when they got to Hokkaido.

And then Genkai's cell phone rang. "Hello? Slow down, Ryo... Oh my. Fire, you say? A long-haired man? Never mind. Yes, take the jet. I'm sure you'll be able to handle yourself. I'm still in Chiba, I can't help. Take Edward and Rei. Good luck, Ryo. Oh, and if you're outmatched, get out of there." She closed her cell phone with shaking hands. Her voice had never wavered during the call.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," Genkai said, before pausing and whispering to Ino. "I'll tell you later. There are too many people around."

_Oh, Lord, _Ino thought. _What have you got me into now, Dad?_

* * *

"I don't trust this jet," Ryo said as the jet in question flew through the dusk sky. "Back in my day, airplanes had pilots, and we liked it. I just can't trust a computer." 

"Washu-san built it, and her technology has never failed before," Rei said. "There is no reason to mistrust this plane."

"I just don't like having my life in the hands of a computer."

"Were the plane to crash, you would be able to use your wings to escape, and I would also be able to fly. In fact, the only person in danger in such a scenario is Elric-san."

"Gee, thanks Rei," Edward said, sitting in his black uniform. He paused, and then burst into laughter.

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Dude, it wasn't that funny."

"Don't you 'dude' me. You try to act like such a macho guy, and then you watch a girly awards show?"

"It's not girly, dude! They were music awards! You listen to music!"

"Not that bubbly pop stuff!"

Rei interrupted, with what could almost be taken as anger. "Perhaps we should concern ourselves with a battle strategy for the upcoming mission."

"Yeah," Ryo said glumly. "People are _dying _Ed. Now's not the time to be poking fun at me."

"Oh, okay. I'll save it for later then."

"_Ed!_"

The blond rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Ryo."

"Not Ryo. When we're on X-Men business, I'm _Dragon_."

"...that is _so _dumb," Edward said with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

Hao always said that he didn't hate humans, he just hated the past, and humans were the outdated relics of another age. Genkai had once asked him if he himself wasn't a relic, given that he ought to be dead by now. Hao had merely responded that this was another way in which he was superior, but he thought that she might have a point. And even if she didn't, this was certainly more interesting to think about than the human chaos surrounding him. 

"Freeze! We have you surrounded! Come out with your hands up and you won't be hurt!"

Hao payed no attention to the blustering cries of the police, and instead looked down at the sobbing teen idol in his hands. He didn't think he'd kill this one, just destroy her godhood. He lifted his hand to her face, and in an instant it burst alive with flame. She shrieked as the fire wreaked havoc across her face and throat. Hao stepped away, leaving the idol a disfigured mess.

"Let's see how well you get by on real skills," he sneered.

"He's psycho! Open fire!"

Hao was only surprised it took them so long. With a simple thought, he raised a barrier of flame and telekinetic force around him, easily deflecting the rain of bullets that came down on him. He just grinned. The humans always amused him when they were cute and helpless like this.

His flames spread out, lighting up the police easily. They screamed and hit the ground. Hao smiled, and cast a burst of flame into the panicking crowd.

"Hey, pyro!" he heard a voice shout. He turned towards it to see three people, no more than teenagers really. The one who had yelled out was a brown-haired boy in a form-fitting dark red uniform with an 'X' across his chest. The draconic wings across his back marked him as a mutant. The others were a short blond boy with a mechanical arm, and an albino girl.

"Who would you be?" Hao asked curiously.

"My name is Dragon," the brown-haired boy said. "And we're the X-Men. We're here to stop you."

"X-Men... oh, are you that mutant porn group?"

"Wha? I mean... no, and prepare to be defeated!" Dragon flung himself at Hao, moving quickly. Hao raised his hand to burn the boy, but the albino cut in front of him and raised a force field, deflecting the flame.

Hao noticed that the blond boy had vanished. _Behind me? _He spun around and launched a barrage of flame, only for it to meet a stone wall. The wall then broke off into several shards, which flew at Hao. He raised a barrier of force and flame. The stones all broke apart when they touched it.

"What the hell?" the boy with the mechanical arm cursed. Someone behind him – Dragon, perhaps – punched him in the back of the head, but as Hao stumbled forward he held up his hand and shot a fireball at him. The brown-haired mutant yelled and waved his arm around as the flame hit it and traveled up his uniform.

Expecting another attack, Hao whirled around, seeing the other boy coming at him. His metal arm had grown a blade. Hao ducked and grabbed the arm as it swung over him. With a grin, his hand heated up, starting to melt the prosthetic.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl above him, flying down with wings seemingly made of light. Between her outstretched hands was a force field as thin as a knife blade, obviously made to cut instead of protect. _Inventive, _Hao thought with a smile, before blasting the girl with a fireball that knocked her to the side. Losing her concentration, she fell to the ground.

With a slight effort, Hao lifted all three X-Men high into the air. The blond flailed his arms around, panicked, while the other two just looked stoic. "So tell me," Hao said. "You three just happened to be in the neighbourhood?"

"The X-Men are wherever they need to be," Dragon said resolutely. "It's our job to stop mutant criminals."

"I'm not a criminal, Dragon," Hao said with a smile. "I'm the future." With a theatrical wave of the hand, he tossed all three into the sidewalk. They lay there, all unconscious.

He had intentionally left the TV cameramen there, and their equipment unharmed. The scum had stayed there, filming the whole thing. _Oh well. Better for me. _He turned to the nearest camera, wondering if they were still broadcasting live. "My name is Hao, and this is a message for humankind. Your time is almost up. Mutants like me will come to rule the earth, and anyone who resists will end up like these." He waved his hand to gesture towards the burnt corpses on the ground.

Ryo, flickering in and out of consciousness, was the only one who saw Hao fly away, laughing as flames encircled but did not touch him.

* * *

Disclaimer: The X-Men and all related concepts belong to Marvel Comics and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. 

Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno, and Inoichi Yamanaka are from Naruto, which belongs to Shueisha and was created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Genkai is from Yu Yu Hakusho, which also belongs to Shueisha and was created by Yoshiro Togashi.

Edward Elric is from Fullmetal Alchemist, which belongs to Square-Enix and was created by Hiromu Arakawa.

Rei Ayanami is from Neon Genesis Evangelion, which belongs to Gainax and was created be Hideaki Anno.

Ryo Akiyama is from various incarnations of the Digimon series, which belong to Toei, Bandai, and probably others.  
Washu is from Tenhi Muyo, which belongs to Pioneer.

Hao is from Shaman King, which belongs to Shueisha and was created by Hiroyuki Takei.

All of the above are used without the permission or knowledge of their creators.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

Well, that's one plot idea forced out of my head and onto paper – er, a computer screen, at least. Basically, X-Men with anime characters and a different style. I don't know how long this series will keep going, or whether they'll be another issue at all. Reader response will likely play a big factor, but ultimately nothing trumps my muse.

This was originally the concept of an RP that never got off the ground. I didn't come up with the idea, but I was going to play Ino in it –- which explains her presence and prominence, though it was also to give a more human side to the story. The other X-Men were selected based on popularity, iconicness, and author favouritism. The X-Men weren't selected to parelell any of the originals, although Genkai is an obvious stand-in for Professor X and Hao fills in the Magneto role for now, although with some significant alterations (the psychotic flair is the only one obvious now.)

If this continues, it won't be a find-and-replace fanfic – the storyline and background will be quite different than any of the X-Men canons, due to both the different characters and new/changed elements. I think that's about all I have to babble about, other than that crossover disclaimers are fun to compile. For the record, it's at the bottom because I didn't want to spoil any of the characters' appearances.

If you liked it, or even if you didn't like it and have some concrit, please leave a review to let me know!


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